Seaford School District Gets Help From State Before Budget Adoption

As the Seaford Board of Education gets set adopt its proposed budget next week, the district has received some extra help from the state.

Seaford Superintendent of Schools Brian Conboy said during Thursday night’s Board of Education meeting that he learned earlier in the evening of the district receiving an extra $279,543 in state aid. Seaford is also getting a boost from the state’s new cap law with the district learning that it is allowed to accrue building aid as revenue. This provides an allowable tax levy increase of 2.93 percent compared to 1.44 percent .

Despite the extra assistance from Albany, Seaford is still facing many cuts as it tries to craft a budget that will be approved by voters after being forced to contingency this year when two spending plans failedand . The five Seaford school board trustees indicated at Thursday night’s meeting that they would be targeting a 2.5 percent tax levy increase as a spending proposal. Under this plan, the district would be facing between $159,000 and $397,000 in cuts depending on how much the school board decided to put in reserves.

“I was very encouraged that we got additional aid and using it wisely is what we need to do,” said Conboy during Thursday’s meeting held at . “We are bare bones in this district right now.”

Seaford is facing the same cuts that needed to be implemented in this year’s contingency budget including two seasons of middle school sports. This would force the newly formed Save Seaford Sports Committee back into action to try and fundraise for the other two seasons. The organization was able to the previously cut winter athletic teams at this year but by around $40,000 for the spring season.

The only additional program the school board indicated it would support is adding $88,000 in technology. This would cover the first part of a five-year plan recommended by the Advisory Committee for Technology to help bring the district back in line with other Long Island school systems in terms of recent technological advances. 

The Seaford Board of Education is scheduled to adopt its proposed budget during a meeting this Tuesday night scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Seaford Manor School.